Post Up: Mr. Bean

by Abe Schwadron | @abe_squad If there’s a better cure for a hangover than pounding Gatorade and watching an afternoon slate of NBA hoops, I haven’t found it yet. Finally, Sundays are for basketball. Lakers 94, Raptors 92 Kobe Bryant does it again. And the Toronto Raptors are still the Toronto Raptors (in case you were wondering). The Kobester hit a baseline jumper with 4.2 seconds left after shaking free of James Johnson, the go-ahead bucket in the Lakers’ win. On Toronto’s ensuing possession, Rasual Butler couldn’t find an open man on the inbounds, and was called for a five-second violation even though it looked like both he and head coach Dwayne Casey called for a timeout. Scott Foster strikes again! The Raps got a second chance after Kobe split a pair of free throws, but DeMar Derozan (2-13 FG, 8 points) air-mailed a three at the buzzer, as L.A. improved to 16-12 on the year. Bryant finished with 27 points (9-23 shooting) and was in full Mamba mode ...